U.S. air passengers face increased security

updated 1:58 a.m. ET Aug. 13, 2006

LOS ANGELES - Airlines scrambled to recruit more baggage handlers Friday as U.S. travelers quickly adapted to new security measures by simply checking luggage they normally would have carried with them.

Passengers also faced a second level of security checks starting Friday, with random bag searches at the airline gates.

The new rules, including a prohibition on carrying liquids aboard aircraft, were hastily added early Thursday after British authorities arrested 24 people in an alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound planes by using explosives disguised as common liquids and other items.

In response, the Bush administration issued an unprecedented code-red alert for passenger flights from Britain to the United States.

This code remained in effect on Friday, and all other flights to and within the United States remained under an “orange” alert, one step below red, but still an escalation from the “yellow” status that had been in effect before Thursday.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said investigators had uncovered no signs of U.S.-based terrorists linked to the airliner plot, and said his department was looking to adjust some of the new traveling restrictions to “somewhat reduce any additional inconvenience.” He provided no details.

“I don’t want to suggest that they’re going to be earth-shattering, but we’re going to move to try to make this as simple and as easy as possible, as quickly as possible,” he said in a news conference at Reagan National Airport in Washington.

Passengers expect new rules
Unlike Thursday, when travelers unaware of the just-established rules filled trash cans at security checkpoints with now-banned bottles of makeup, perfume and suntan lotion, passengers on Friday had already packed those items in their checked luggage instead.

As a result, security checkpoint lines that had stranded people for hours on Thursday were moving normally at most airports Friday.

“The overhead bins have never been that empty, ever,” Kim Dickerson, 40, said after she arrived at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport from New York. “Normally people are trying to shove and push things around, I tell you, half the bins weren’t even occupied.”

NBC VIDEO Security tips for travelers Aug. 11: NBC's Janet Shamlian reports from Chicago's O'Hare Airport on the impact of the foiled plot on air travel and offers tips on how to get through security easier. Today show

Los Angeles International Airport reported a 30 to 50 percent increase in checked luggage, a jump that required airlines to recruit additional bag handlers, said Paul Haney, spokesman for Los Angeles World Airports. To handle the random bag checks at airport gates, about 200 unarmed National Guard troops were on duty.

“This time yesterday we were collecting hourly all kinds of liquids and gels. Obviously, the word has gotten out not to pack that,” Haney said. “It’s looking very much like a normal Friday in August.”

Operations at Chicago’s O’Hare, the nation’s busiest airport, were also back to normal, with security line waits between 30 and 60 minutes, said Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Lara Uselding.

“Things are running very well for a Friday” at O’Hare, said United Airlines spokeswoman Robin Urbanski.

Delays, missed flights
Security was tightest on flights to and from the United Kingdom, where more items were banned and passengers faced additional luggage checks.

Incoming flights from London were delayed about 50 minutes at O’Hare, Urbanski said Friday morning. At Miami International Airport, some long lines formed ahead of the early international departures Friday, but they quickly cleared out, airport spokesman Greg Chin said.

Michael Dwyer / AP Travelers wait in a line that stretches the length of the international terminal to pass through security at Logan International Airport in Boston on Thursday.

Despite the threat and added security hoops to get through, Urbanski said travelers didn’t appear to be ditching their flight plans. “We are not seeing any change in bookings ... nothing out of ordinary,” she said.

At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, about 3,700 of an estimated 51,000 travelers had missed their flights because of lines and delays on Thursday, when 164 flights were delayed, said airport spokesman Bob Parker.

Traffic was moving more smoothly at New York’s major airports on Friday, where the morning flight delays were generally no more than 15 minutes, said Tiffany Townsend, a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Filling dumpsters
From London to Los Angeles, travelers on Thursday had found themselves unpacking carry-on bags on the floor in the terminals. Some tried to squeeze makeup, sunscreen and other toiletries into their checked baggage, where liquids were permissible. Others filled up the bins at security checkpoints, abandoning everything from nail polish to a bottle of tequila.

On Friday, travelers weren’t taking chances.

“I checked everything except for books and a wallet,” Cindy Mironovich, 49, said as she munched on a peach before going through security at Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey.

The only exceptions to the ban on liquids, lotions and gels were for baby formula and medications, which had to be presented for inspection at security checkpoints. Liquids were allowed in checked bags because those suitcases are screened for explosives and are stowed out off passengers’ reach.

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